


No Flame Burns Forever

by agentsimmons



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Break Up, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Is a Good Bro, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Comfort/Angst, F/M, Gen or Pre-Slash, Inspired by Music, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pepper Feels, Pepper Potts Has Her Reasons, Pre-Slash, Science Bros, Shippy Gen, Tony Angst, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-01 22:57:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4037752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsimmons/pseuds/agentsimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"I'm lost here, Pepper. Help me, please. Just one last time, tell me what I need to do."</i>
  <br/>
  <i>
    <b>"You're not lost, Tony. You just haven't figured it out yet. I think you'll get there though."</b>
  </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Flame Burns Forever

**But no flame burns forever, oh no**  
**You and I both know this all too well**  
**And most don't even last the night  
**_-Tompkins Square Park-_

* * *

The sun was a little too bright for Tony's comfort. Birds were chirping too happily. He could hear children laughing throughout the park. Everything was just a little too perfect and it left his heart nervous, like it was weighed down with premonition. Pepper had messaged him to meet her in the park for lunch, in between her meeting with a zoning crew and her flight back to California.

That was his first tip that something wasn't right. Lunch in the park was too casual if they weren't going to see each other for at least another few weeks, their busy schedules always keeping them apart. And he almost always went with her to the airport to send her off. He didn't always want to maybe, but that's what one does in a stable relationship.

As he sat there on a park bench, waiting for the ball to drop, he contemplated hurrying back to Avengers Tower before she could meet him. He could just pretend he'd forgotten and whatever it was that she had to say to him could be postponed indefinitely.

"Hi, Tony," her voice put a sudden end to that plan. He looked up to see her standing there, cool and reserved. Her smile was tight and he knew what was coming. He didn't have to be an expert in monogamy to know that this was a break-up date.

"Hey, yourself. Did you have a kickass meeting?"

"Well, Simons was being an ass as usual, so yeah there was definitely some kicking done," Pepper answered him with a more genuine smile this time. Why was she doing this? He could still make her smile and they still understood one another in ways that should still matter.

"But you always get the job done, babe," he offered, trying to gauge her reaction. His stomach fell in final consciousness of his fate when her smile tightened once more. "Look, you don't have to be polite about this," he got to the point. There was no use dragging it out. "But I would like to know what I finally did to drive you away. Was it, was it nearly dying one too many times? Was it the distance? Was it-"

"Just you, Tony," she replied and that was harsher than he had expected. He eyed her as if she'd betrayed him. Just him? All of him? "I love you, Tony, but I don't think I'm in love with the man you've become...who you're becoming. Don't get me wrong. I love who you're becoming; I'm so, so incredibly proud, but it'll never work out. It can't."

"I can change, Pepper," Tony blurted out before backtracking. "Or, should I say, I don't have to change?"

"Don't you dare." She looked at him sharply. "I want you to. And I would never forgive myself if I stopped you from finally becoming the Tony Stark you would have been from the start if only things had been different for you." 

He didn't have time for her circular discussion. She loved him, but didn't love him? He was supposed to have been somebody? No, he didn't care about any of that. Right now he only cared about not losing things that he needed.

"But what if I can't live without you? What if I don't want to?" 

Tony jumped to his feet and crossed over to Pepper. Before she could protest he grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. If she was leaving him for good, he was at least going to get one more kiss from her. He wanted more than that, but a kiss would have to suffice.

But he could taste her reluctance on his tongue. He could taste the slow decay that had settled in between them. How hadn't he noticed before? How long had she noticed? Where had it even come from? She was supposed to be the one. They'd only ever had each other it seemed. She'd said so herself once. 

When he pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. That hurt worse than knowing she was leaving. He realized that she was afraid of hurting him because she did still care about him, even if not enough to stay and make it work. He did the only thing he knew to do and thumbed away a few of her tears.

"I'm sorry, Tony," she whispered. "I would have tried harder to be the right person for you, but we'd only be lying to ourselves and it would hurt worse in the end. I don't want that. I want us to still care about each other. If anyone can make a friendship work after a relationship, it's us, Tony."

"What came between us?" Tony asked, not wanting to pull too far away. "I know you said it's because I'm changing, but is that all there is? Really? Because it doesn't feel like that's it. If you're lying to me, then fine, I'll take it. But... I'm lost here, Pepper. Help me, please. Just one last time, tell me what I need to do."

"You're not lost, Tony. You just haven't figured it out yet. I think you'll get there though." There was silence for a moment until she broke it with a long sigh. "But, you're right. Something else did come between us. Doubt."

"Doubt?" Tony scrunched his face. "I'm sorry if I gave you any reason to doubt me. But I've never-"

"Not my doubt, Tony. _Yours._ "

Tony inhaled sharply at the accusation. "Mine?"

"Yours," she confirmed. "There's something there behind your eyes now. It's in your caresses. I have a pretty good idea what it is, which is why I think you'll be fine. And I'm okay with it because it just makes more sense that way. You may want me around, Tony, but you stopped being in love with me a while ago."

"Not possible," Tony denied fervently. He wasn't going to give up that easily. Sure, he'd had his doubts from time to time about whether or not he deserved her, but that was to be expected right? He hadn't meant for his doubts to make her question his feelings for her.

"We can go around in circles, but it won't change anything." She put an end to his fight before he could begin. "We should just consider ourselves lucky. I know I do. I am so lucky that I helped get you to this point. And you helped get me to where I am today. That's nothing to sneeze at, Tony. What we had was special and others won't understand how we can go on thinking it was special and still be able to find happiness elsewhere, but that's exactly what makes what we've had special. We needed each other, but now we don't."

"Yes, yes, I do," Tony countered, believing it down into his bones.

She smiled at him and he felt a chill run down his spine at the fact that her smile could still manage to convince him she was right in the end.

"You don't, I promise. You need me as the CEO of your company and as your friend, but not the way you think you need me. Not anymore. But I'll always be glad that you did need me once."

There was a long silence between them. The sun was still too bright, the birds still too happy, and the children's laughter still too loud. Tony wanted to hold her close, keep her trapped, but that wasn't any good. There was nothing to be said for keeping a caged beast no matter how often he was tempted by the notion. 

"Nothing lasts," Tony sighed in resignation as he buried his hands into his pockets. "You would think I would be better at saying goodbye. Then again, I guess I always just ducked out before having to do the dirty work. Left it to you more times than I should have."

"We all have our strengths," Pepper replied calmly. "And I suppose you're right. Most things don't last. We'd be lying if we said otherwise wouldn't we? But that doesn't mean there aren't some things that are meant to. You just have to figure out what they are and really fight for them. That's why I'm letting you go, Tony. Because you have other things to fight for. So do I, or I will eventually, so let's just let it go at that, okay?"

Tony nodded. It was all he could manage. She surprised him with another long, sweet kiss. There was nothing but good will in it. The flame was extinguished almost as if it had never been there. Almost. The memory was still there. 

"So is that it? I-I I'm telling you, I don't even know where to go from here, Pepper," he admitted, not caring about his dislike for feeling vulnerable.

"Alright. I'll tell you what to do to get you started; just this one last time for the road, okay?"

He waited with baited breath, as if by some miracle she would have the answer he needed to get him through this. She probably did. She always did.

"You're going to excuse me for not eating lunch with you because, well, we should leave it at this and I need to get to the airport. Then you're going to get a hot dog from that vendor over there and you're going to have lunch with someone you care deeply about, just not me. Then you're going to go back to the lab and pour your energy into something amazing because that's just what you do. And you're not going to get drunk. That's a big one. No matter how much you think you want to, that's not something that'll fix this. It'll just make it worse, for you and for those who care about you. Promise me."

"I promise." He didn't have to promise. He really didn't think he would have it in him to get drunk after this. He was so sober he'd likely die from alcohol poisoning just trying. And he didn't have any wish to die no matter how confused he felt at the moment.

"Good. But above all, what you're going to do, and this is very important, is you're going to move on. And you're going to figure out what it is you need to fight for. And when you do finally figure it out, my God, Tony, you better fight for it, okay? Don't you dare waste it or else I'll be really disappointed, understand?" 

He stepped backwards and sat back down on the bench like a child that's just been scolded into submission. How could he possibly figure out what he needed to fight for when he had thought for so long that it was supposed to be Pepper? 

"It's not going to be easy," she added after he didn't respond. She then turned to leave, but not without giving him one final stroke upon his head and along his cheek. He met her tender gaze and wondered if he would be able to live up to whatever expectations she seemed to have for him. He was always falling short of expectations.

"I don't know if I can," he said with a sigh as she started to walk away.

"I've seen you do the impossible one too many times to believe that, Tony. And you've already got the groundwork laid so you'll be fine. You both will." 

Tony furrowed his brow at this last part and looked up. He wanted to run after her, to ask her what she meant, but it was no use. She was leaving and it was, like she said, up to him now to figure out where to go from here. And it was up to him to figure out who could possibly ever take the place of Pepper Potts, if it was supposedly not an impossible feat. But first, she'd left him a road map and he was going to selfishly take it. He needed to rely on her one last time because the world was spinning.

He darted his eyes towards the hot dog vendor warily. Suddenly this road map didn't make too much sense. Nothing made sense. He didn't feel like eating. And he was alone. She was gone and he was alone. His head sunk into his hands.

"I got your text."

The gentle, distant, beautifully familiar voice reached his ears and he jerked his head back toward the nearby entrance of the park. Bruce Banner was standing there having a quick conversation with Pepper, none the wiser to what had just transpired if his eager nod and friendly smile was any indication. 

Bruce glanced in his direction and nodded to acknowledge him, to say "hi", in his awkward way and it was enough to make him straighten up just a little. Bruce then allowed Pepper to give him a quick hug before watching her go. Tony mused briefly that instead of watching Pepper go himself, he was watching Bruce watch her go. By proxy had never felt like such an unusual term before. He turned his head away and decided to stare at absolutely nothing instead.

"Is Pepper okay?" Bruce asked him as he approached, the man looking back over his shoulder in confusion in the direction she had gone. "She seemed-" Tony didn't have to look at Bruce to know he had gotten close enough for the naturally observant doctor to make out that something was wrong. "Are _you_ okay, Tony?"

Tony met his gaze. That calm, steady gaze, that somehow had the fortitude to hold back a raging monster, was everything he needed at the moment. And it occurred to him like an epiphany that Bruce was part of Pepper's road map. She had texted him to come, probably under false pretenses, so he could pick up where she'd left off and help Tony get through this sudden transition. He certainly wouldn't resent her for making that call, even if it might turn out to be a little unfair to Bruce who had no warning of the glass wall he was about to walk into.

"We broke up," he said flatly and then fixed his gaze straight ahead once more.

"What?" Bruce was dumbstruck. "That-that... _Really?_ I don't understand." The other man studied Tony carefully before his concern seemingly grew. "Oh my god, Tony, are you okay?" He plopped down beside him on the bench. "Was... Was it mutual?"

"Uh-" the word was exhaled sharply as Tony tried to steady his emotions. "I don't know yet, you know. I let her go so... Maybe? I just wasn't expecting it. Today. Or ever? I don't know."

"Do you need anything, Tony? Because you know I'm here. Do- Do you need a drink maybe?"

Tony looked at the nervous, but genuine expression on the face beside him. Bruce hated alcohol, but there he was offering to put that aside for his sake. Tony felt his stomach turn. He wasn't going to do that to him of all people. Pepper was right on that account. He couldn't leave Bruce out to dry like that just because he found it more convenient to drown his emotions in whatever alcoholic beverage he could get his hands on.

"No. No drinks. No alcohol. I'm not in any condition to control myself and I won't do that to you, buddy. I won't leave you to clean up that mess."

"Assuming I could will myself to even do it, Tony," Bruce admitted now that the threat of Tony's dependence on alcohol was squelched for the time being. Tony looked at him, waiting for the rest of his confession. "I might have just run out on you instead if it got too bad."

There it was. That ever present threat that Bruce might lose himself to his fear and run again. Tony hated it with a burning passion, but it was an especially raw nerve not that he had just lost Pepper. He couldn't... He _wouldn't_ let Bruce leave too. Not yet. Not ever if possible. But certainly not on account of his drinking.

"You don't have to worry about it," Tony offered genuinely, if not weakly.

He felt Bruce's eyes on him. "But I can still worry about you. What now, Tony? What _are_ you going to do?"

It probably should have been a little insulting, the worry that Tony wouldn't be able to handle a break-up with the dignity and maturity of a man his age. But too often he was a piping hot mess of insecurity and emotional baggage so he couldn't blame his friend for the thought.

"You like hot dogs, right?"

"Yes?"

"Well, then, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to walk over to that vendor over there and buy us a couple of hot dogs." Tony stood to his feet and then turned to look at Bruce, awaiting his approval of the plan.

"I'm pretty hungry." Bruce scratched the back of his neck playfully and Tony almost wanted to hug him for not being awkward about the whole situation. He needed their easy back and forth to remain in tact the same way he needed his arc reactor.

"Ok, then I'll buy the whole vendor," Tony corrected with a genuine smile. It was small and fragile, but genuine. "Then after I've had lunch with someone I care deeply about, you and I are going to go back to my lab and create something amazing. No brainstorming, no schematics. Just pure, intuitive science. Maybe we'll blow up the world in the process, but, hey, it'll be beautiful when it goes, I can guarantee that."

Bruce was studying him through the entire speech and Tony felt the weight of what the other genius didn't say, didn't ask.

_And then?_

"And then I'm going to try and move on and figure out what it is Tony Stark is supposed to be fighting for in this world because hell if I know at the moment, but Pepper seems to think it's gonna be good whatever it is."

"Well," Bruce began meekly, "as your friend, I'm a little inclined to mistrust her judgment if she could let someone like you get away. But given that I agree with her on this particular item, I'll let it pass this time."

Bruce then offered him a broad smile, evidence of the time he had already spent with Tony and the thick walls the engineer had begun to chip away at. Tony felt the importance of that smile deep down somewhere, knowing just how open the gesture was. He suddenly wanted to find a way to keep that smile on Dr. Banner's face because it suited him somehow. That was something he wouldn't mind fighting for.

"Hey, Tony," Bruce added, a lot less meekly, "not to be a pain, but I _am_ pretty much starving so if we could get those hot dogs now, that'd be great."

Tony laughed. "Some friend you are. Thinking about your stomach instead of your pal's broken heart."

"Is it broken?" Concern flitted across the doctor's face, his eyebrows raised and waiting for an answer.

Tony banged playfully on his arc reactor a few times. "Nope, I guess it's still in one piece."

The concern on Bruce's face dissipated almost immediately and was replaced with a thin smile. "Then, yeah, stomach comes first. So make with those hot dogs you promised me."

"What if I changed my mind?" Tony asked, relishing in the simple breeziness of their banter.

"An appearance of the Other Guy would be imminent."

"Right. Hot dogs. On it." Tony turned on his heels overdramatically and walked towards the vendor. No more than a few seconds later Bruce bounded up alongside him.

The sun might have been still a little too bright, the birds still a little too happy and the laughter of children still a little too loud, but that was okay. One day he would be glad for them.


End file.
